19 Free iPad Apps for Musical Creativity: Play, Improvise and Record Music
Really, there are so many apps available it can be hard to know where to begin and once you find something that looks useful, it’s difficult to assess it properly until you’ve download and installed it on your iPad. iPad music apps that are free can take away the risk of choosing a dud and they can be useful when book-listing apps for students on a tight budget.
Over time, I’ve collected quite a number of free apps on my iPad. Generally speaking, paid apps are nearly always better – they are ad-free, there are fewer necessary in-app purchases to make the app functional, there are more features and they’re better-supported (something that’s often overlooked when deciding between free vs paid).
The following list of apps fall into the “creativity” category. This is the first post in a 5-part series – there were simply too many to list in a single post! The five parts are as follows:
- Part 2 – 14 Free iPad Apps: Play A Musical Instrument
- Part 3 – 7+ Free Apps for Discovering The Orchestra
- Part 4 – 28 Free Music Toolkit Apps for Teachers
- Part 5 – 8 Free iPad Apps for Ear-Training and Literacy (coming soon)
Hokusai
- “Audacity for iPad”
- Record, edit, trim, fade in/out, cut copy paste
- Links with Dropbox
Soundcloud
- Record, share and discover music
Loopesque Lite
- 32-step circle sequencer
- Create beats and patterns
- Arrange music
- Upgrade to the paid version to save and export projects
Mugician
Synthesiser with a layout that’s ideal for guitarists.
Groovemaker Free
Remix loops in real-time
Create electronic, dance and hip-hop tracks
Sounddrop
Music and physics combine
Draw lines on the screen and watch/listen to the balls as they bounce off each line
Pattern Music
Create your own loops and patterns
Variety of instrument sounds
Each loop is created via a tone matrix grid
Jampad Plus
Play and record keyboard
Drum patterns
Soundprism
Create melodies and chords
Includes recording function
Falling Stars
Similar to Soundrop, but more advanced
Create music by dropping “stars” on to leaves and other plants that you draw on the screen with your finger
Good variety of sounds
Can have multiple stars falling at once and you can adjust their speed
Up to four projects can be saved
Finger Stomp Lite
The lite version of Finger Stomp
No export of recordings, less flexibility
S4 Rhythm Composer
Drum pattern sequencer
Can export as WAV file
Pocket Wavepad HD
Cube Jam
Import songs from your music library
Play along, improvise, record a solo, adjust tempo and pitch
Export your own mix
Especially for younger students
Loopesque Kids
Improvise musical patterns with gorgeous graphics
Monkey Drum Free
Create, play and remix rhythms
Arpie
Nice little app, but limited since you can’t save or export your creations
Good for discussing pitch, speed and gravity!
Dropophone
Create loops with “drip-drop” sounds
Another one with very limited use
Singing Fingers
Sing or play while you draw on your iPad screen, then run your finger over the drawing to hear your performance
Lots of uses in the music classroom
Article by a music teacher who uses Singing Fingers with her students
Singing Fingers Youtube video:
